Current Progress

Saturday, March 28, 2009

As a self proclaimed vegetarian for the year, I surely have done a terrible job at avoiding meat here in Beijing. It's very tough to just order vegetables - meat seems to be the center of attention and part of every dish. Ok, well when in rome...right?

It didn't take much to twist my rubber arm to eat...Beijing Duck. Gosh, I can't get enough of it. The perfectly crispy skin. The lovely wrap and toppings. The tender duck. At Quanjude, they served us their 110009th duck. Tonight, we had it again at Wangfujing. They roast it when you order and it comes fresh outta the oven in 40 min. Instead of the rottiserie chickens you get at Safeway in north america, you get the roasted duck at any supermarket here. Damn, I wonder if the US customs will let me in with a duck.

A wild turtle. This took succumbing to peer pressure and curiosity. The plastic gloves were a nice touch. I must have had a few bites before I saw the head...and couldn't eat the rest.

I also had Frog, Beef, Pork, Chicken and whatever they have inside of them. Gosh I have no idea what other animals made it into my tummy, sometimes you can't tell with the spices and oil. But whatever arm you twist there ain't no way I ate that:It was still moving!!!!!

The food here was so good this week - I'm not used to ordering 5-10 plates every meal, it seems normal here! The one complaint is all the oil everything is soaked in. Today I was able to convince my kind hosts of more simple steamed vegetables and soups as some of the dishes! I am definitely craving a nice fresh salad and fruits that are not soaked in sugar.